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Want to start your own business? Here’s how to do it in nine swift steps…

You should absolutely try going into business for yourself. If you don’t you’ll always regret not giving it a shot. After you’ve done it once it will be much simpler to repeat. Yet, like redecorating your apartment, it is a lot faster and more efficient if you get the steps right. You don’t want to put in new floors, only to mess them up with painting the ceiling or dragging through new appliances.

Here’s how to get started with your own business.

1) Hone Your Idea

While you may pivot or take different tangents and add products later on, it is really important to have clarity on your idea before you invest time plowing ahead with the later steps in this guide.

Be clear on:

Why you want to be an entrepreneur and business owner

Why you want to launch this specific business

Whether this will be a small business or fast growth startup

What big problem you are solving

That there is a demand for what you plan to build and offer

Don’t get so bogged down in this process that you never get started or miss your window of opportunity. Speed and execution can be far more important than the fine polishing. It will never be perfect. A business is always evolving.

2) Research & Feedback

The biggest risk and threat to your business idea is failing to research and backup your assumptions.

Do complete thorough research, including:

Making sure there is a need and demand

Testing whether people will actually pay money for your solution

Make sure you are not just creating a carbon copy of an existing and established business

Finding out who your competitors are

Determining how big your total addressable market really is

Getting a feel for potential pricing, costs and profitability

3) Create a Business Plan

You need a plan.

A business plan will help you think through and answer the questions you have overlooked. It will help you test profitability, understand your financial needs, and give you a roadmap for bringing your business to life and growing it. It will tell you what you need to be financially viable.

However, there are conflicting opinions about what is necessary in business planning today. Especially if you are launching a real startup, and not just a small local business.

A well fleshed out business plan can be a great asset. Yet, it is important to recognize that few utilize this document as much as they would expect later on. It is a living plan that will always be changing. Few investors or lenders will care to read all the way through it. Don’t get bogged down in this for too long and let time and opportunity pass you by.

Others are bigger fans of focusing on a pitch deck as business plans are starting to become more of a roadmap. In fact during fundraising investors are now requesting pitch decks rather than business plans.

A pitch deck can be used in much the same way. It will keep you focused on the most important items and is more likely to be referred to on a regular basis, and can also be used for fundraising for your venture. For a winning deck, take a look at the pitch deck template created by Silicon Valley legend, Peter Thiel (see it here) that I recently covered. Thiel was the first angel investor in Facebook with a $500K check that turned into more than $1 billion in cash. Moreover, I also provided a commentary on a pitch deck from an Uber competitor that has raised over $400 million (see it here).

4) Choose the Best Place to Launch Your Business

While more business are working 100% virtually and location independent, where you choose to base yourself, or locate different parts of your business and recruit from can make a big difference.

Factors to consider include:

Overhead and living costs

Access to talent

Networking opportunities

Business and investor friendliness

Taxes

Proximity and appeal to investors

5) Organize Your Business

Now it’s time to formalize your business venture by registering and incorporating.

By now you know the people you need to begin building your business and for advancing to the next milestone.

This likely includes:

Technical team members

Customer service

Marketing experts

Cofounders

Lawyers

Accountants

Board of advisors

Fundraising experts

7) Fund It

You now have a good handle on what you need and who you need. You just might not have the finances or financial cushion to make it possible and comfortable.

There are various ways to fund your immediate first steps and needs, including:

Cash on hand

Personal loans

Business lines of credit

Cofounders

Friends and family

Angel investors

Just keep your eye on the end game and how these choices may impact fundraising needs later on.

8) Get Users

Whether you choose a freemium model or need real paying customers from day one, it’s time to get to work to recruit those early adopters.

This is hustle time. It’s time to sprint.

Any future funding is going to rely on gaining some traction here, being able to show growth in key metrics and collecting valuable feedback from this first cohort of customers.

9) Scale It

Once you’ve got a viable business model, and things are working, it’s time to scale it. Find new markets, amp up customer acquisition, and maybe begin rolling out additional products or services. Don’t forget enterprise customers who can really help you make massive leaps quickly. You’ll likely need more funding for this stage. So, make sure you’ve documented everything in detail to show off what you’ve accomplished and where you are headed.

I would also recommend listening to the DealMakers Podcast where some of the most successful entrepreneurs share how they did it. I have often found that learning from other experiences may help you in mastering your strategy and execution.

I am a serial entrepreneur and the author of the The Art of Startup Fundraising. With a foreword by ‘Shark Tank‘ star Barbara Corcoran, and published by John Wiley &…

I am a serial entrepreneur and the author of the The Art of Startup Fundraising. With a foreword by ‘Shark Tank‘ star Barbara Corcoran, and published by John Wiley & Sons, the book was named one of the best books for entrepreneurs. The book offers a step-by-step guide to today‘s way of raising money for entrepreneurs. Most recently, I built and exited CoFoundersLab which is one of the largest communities of founders online. Prior to CoFoundersLab, I worked as a lawyer at King & Spalding where I was involved in one of the biggest investment arbitration cases in history ($113 billion at stake). I am an active speaker and have given guest lectures at the Wharton School of Business, Columbia Business School, and at NYU Stern School of Business. I have been involved with the JOBS Act since inception and was invited to the White House and the US House of Representatives to provide my stands on the new regulatory changes concerning fundraising online.